Walsh, Mery advance in judgeship races

Updated 1:46 am, Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Bexar County's runoff voters provided little in the way of surprise Tuesday with their judicial choices, nominating two state district judge candidates who garnered the most votes in May.

Stephani Walsh, who previously led a field of three Republicans for the 166th state District Court, repeated her primary election win in the runoff. Meanwhile, former County Court-at-Law Judge Michael Mery further solidified his comeback attempt, garnering the Democratic nomination for the 37th state District Court.

The upcoming retirements of two longtime civil judges from those benches, Democrat Martha Tanner of the 166th and Republican David Berchelmann of the 37th, resulted in crowded primary races for their opposing parties.

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Walsh, who will now face off against Democrat Laura Salinas, said she took no solace in the May results as her runoff battle against Kim Pettit heated up.

She frequently pointed out during the campaign that she was the only candidate who was board certified in family law, a rigorous process that only a small percentage of lawyers complete. Pettit pointed out that Walsh, for her part, was the only candidate who had previously been reprimanded by the State Bar of Texas.

“I am glad that I took the high road,” Walsh said as she celebrated the win at Longhorn Café. “People do not like negative campaigns.”

In the race for Berchelmann's bench, Mery will be pitted against Republican Art Rossi, who was unopposed in the GOP primary.

Mery garnered more than 39 percent of the primary vote in May. But without a majority, he was sent into a runoff with lawyer Nicole Elizalde Henning, who had eked out a second-place showing over Pamela Gabriel Craig by less than 1 percentage point.

Mery, who lost his court-at-law bench in the 2010 Democratic primary, touted his 11 years' experience running the misdemeanor court along with his two years since then serving as a visiting judge and mediator. Henning, who has practiced law since 1999, pointed out that, unlike Mery, she has dedicated her career to civil litigation.

Voters statewide and locally did offer a surprise Tuesday in the Republican runoff for the Place 4 spot on the Texas Supreme Court: ousting incumbent David Medina.

Challenger John Devine — who, like Medina, had served as a state district judge in Houston — was a strong critic of Medina's first term, which included an indictment for evidence-tampering in a suspicious fire (the charge was later dropped), and a $35,000 fine by the Texas Ethics Commission for improper use of campaign funds.

Devine, an anti-abortion activist dubbed “the 10 Commandments Judge,” was no stranger to controversy, either. No Democrat is seeking the Place 4 spot. ckapitan@express-news.net